As it was announced in December, Call of Duty Modern Warefare 3 reaching $1 billion in revenue in a record 16 days (one less than the 17 it took the movie Avatar) isn’t new news.

But it is an opportunity to talk about the magnitude of where the video game industry is trending.

MW3 set entertainment launch records with $400 million in its first 24 hours and $775 million in its first five days. Considering how young the market still is, one can imagine how often this record can and likely will be broken.

In term of revenue, many aren’t aware the main competition for video games are movie and music. And depending on what publication is referenced, all three are currently fairly even in that regard. Yet the gaming industry is dwarfed by comparison in terms of fanfare, media coverage, respect, etc.

In all fairness, the industry is still an infant compared to music and motion pictures. However, gamers who saw the inception of video games as early as the 1970’s (pong was introduced in 1972), are now seeing waves of new generations joining the ranks who count video games as their preferred choice of entertainment.

With the addition of revenue via the booming business of application games through online downloads and social media, the video game industry is likely to soon be king of the entertainment revenue market.

A&E reporter John Wenzel has covered a variety of topics for The Denver Post over the years, including video games, comedy, music and the fine arts. He's been playing and loving video games since his dad brought home a sweet ColecoVision in 1983. Catch him on PSN as beardsandgum.

Hugh got his start writing for the Cheyenne and Woodmen Edition newspapers in Colorado Springs. In 2011 he moved to Denver where he has written for Denver Urban Spectrum and Colorado Community Media’s Wheat Ridge Transcript. Hugh joined The Denver Post in 2014 as an editorial assistant.

Bryan Moore joined The Denver Post sports department in 1997 and has worked in many phases of producing the daily sports section ever since, specifically focusing on coverage of the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, and college football and basketball.